Oahu farmers co-op gets $249K grant

An Oahu farmers cooperative has received a $249,000 federal grant to help other local small farmers sell what they grow.

Friends With Farms, a Waimanalo-based cooperative, received the grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Marketing Service, which helps promote farmers markets.

The co-op intends to use the grant money to help more small farmers sell their crops at farmers markets and online through a community-supported agriculture program, in which Friends With Farms plans to offer baskets of fruits and vegetables to subscribing customers weekly or biweekly.

“Small farmers face big challenges,” La‘amea Lunn, the co-op’s president, said in a statement. “Marketing and distribution are a major cost and time drain, as well as a significant business risk.”

Friends With Farms cited 2012 federal data that about 740 of the roughly 1,o00 farms on Oahu occupy less than 10 acres, making it difficult for them to generate a steady and big enough supply for buyers.

“With our model, there’s no need to create giant industrial-scale farms in order to be successful,” Paul Arinaga, operations manager of the co-op, said in statement. “We’re going to help Oahu’s small farmers achieve success while staying independent and small.”